| From the BVI Cycling Federation Tour de Tortola Eleven miles into Sunday’s 44-mile BVI Cycling Federation 10th Anniversary Clarence Thomas Ltd. Tour de Tortola, Phillippe Leroy gained a 50 second advantage over the field after making a break away move in the off road Steel Point segment.
Young mounted his comeback in Carrot Bay at the base of Windy Hill. By time he reached the summit 2 miles later, he held a one minute lead on Leroy, which he extended to five minutes as the course progressed through Ridge Road, Balsam Ghut and Beef Island before finishing at Clarence Thomas Ltd. Young finished in 2 hours, 11 minutes and 27 seconds to Leroy’s 2:16.22. Darel Christopher was third in 2:40.55. St. John’s Louise DePuy won the women’s race, establishing a course record 1:59.58. Sarah Eades placed second in 2:22.51 followed by Patlian Johnson’s 2:45.41. Leroy said he planned to go slowly to West End and Steel Point then hard on the hills. “Unfortunately, Andrew had another story. He went hard to West End which was a very good tactic that really worked out for him,” explained Leroy, riding his first tour in three years. “I wasn’t able to recuperate from the time trial. I couldn’t climb well today. It’s as tough as before. I would love to win it once. That would be nice.”
Young said it was a great race. “I got a bit of a shock losing the time trial,” he said. “I had to go home and think on how I’d outsmart Phillippe. I tried to go fast and wear him down on the way to West End and it paid off. He went hard through Steel Point. I caught him going up Windy Hill as he faded a bit. From there on, it was trying to get to the finish as fast as possible.” Young who finished 20 minutes behind John Miller last year, said the race was special. “I’m leaving soon and it was my last race,” he said. “Thanks to all the friends I’ve made with the BVI Cycling Federation. I’ll try to be a great ambassador for the federation and I wish them all the success in the future.”
Placing sixth was St. Thomas’ Tim Thomas. “Everything was so well organized, a great course but a little bit difficult up Windy Hill,” he said. “I wasn’t passed, but the rest of the course was kind of tough. I wished I could have done better, but there were four of us that finished in about 16 seconds of each other. It doesn’t get more competitive than that.” Paul Hart, who recently moved to St. Thomas from Florida and finished behind Smith, said the climbs were long and steep. “Windy Hill was just like a big climb we have in Gainesville, except I was out in the middle of the ocean,” said Hart who slipped from third to seventh on the hill. “It was really hard and there was some tough competition. Those guys are serious. They definitely surprised me. From time we left Road Town there were attacks. Everybody was in race mode for sure.” DePuy, 10th overall last year, said it was good to see more women racing. “I haven’t ridden a mountain bike since the last tour. I just thought ‘That full course is really going to hurt me today. Let me stick to something I know I’m capable of,’” she explained of her decision to do the women’s race. “Of course when I finished, I though ‘Why didn’t I do the full.’ I’ve been a couch potato lately and you got to have a lot of respect for this course.” Louise said her performance has jumpstarted her to getting back into training for the Love City Triathlon in six weeks. “I need to get on it.”
Cycling Federation president David Thomas said the turnout for the tour was the smallest. “But, it was one of the most competitive tours we’ve had in, a very long time. Apart from Andrew and Phillippe’s battle, we’ve never had four guys sprinting to the line for positions three to six before. It was really great to see. We had some really good performances today. It was nice to see the women going for the challenge, standing and sprinting the hills. There wasn’t a better way to close the 10 anniversary Tour de Tortola. Thomas said DePuy’s decision to ride the women’s course where she established a course record, gives other women an incentives to shoot for. “I think we’re going to keep that course. I think it worked out well,” he said. “There’s no easy course in doing Tour de Tortola. Once you have to go up Windy Hill, it’s going to kill you.” Thomas says he hopes the girls keep training. “I commend Lousie because she’s not as strong today as she was in past tours where she can go out and mix it up with the men.”
Final results. Men: 1. Andrew Young, 2 hours, 11 minutes, 27 seconds. 2. Phillippe Leroy, 2:16.22. 3. Darel Christopher, 2:40.55. 4. Conrad Emmanuel, 2:41.00. 5. Clifton Forbes, 2:41.06. 6. Tim Smith, St. Thomas, 2:41.11. 7. Paul Hart, St. Thomas, 2:47.18. 8. Neil Thomas, 2:51.39. 9. Jim Cullimore, 2:54.18. 10. Cliff Williams, Antigua, 2:59.47. 11. Steve Marsh, 3:06.27. 12. Tom Merrigan, 3:45.22. 13. Kem Ketchem, 3:47.22. 14. Joe Giacinto, 3:56.20. Women. 1: Louise DePuy, St. John, 1:59.58. 2. Sarah Eades, 2:22.51. 3. Patlian Johnson, 2:45.41. 4. Shannel Walker, 3:19.23. Dnf. Tamika George. Men: Glenroy Forbes, 2:37.49.
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